A retooled Giants lineup came back from a 5-0 deficit to take a late lead and the Giants may have a new Closer to boot as Randy Rodriguez came on to rescue the 9'th inning from another potential Blown Save. Key Lines:
Heliot Ramos LF- 1 for 4, 2B, 2 RBI. BA= .292. Heliot comes through again as his 2-run double tied the score in the 7'th inning.
Jung Hoo Lee CF- 2 for 3, 2 2B, SF, R, RBI. BA= .274. Lee has been slumping too so this line is a welcome sight. The SF drove in the winning run.
Matt Chapman 3B- 1 for 4, HR(11), R, 2 RBI. BA= .236. Chapman is hitting .417 over his last 7 games. His HR narrowed the gap to 5-3 and ties him with Heliot for the team lead.
Daniel Johnson RF- 2 for 4, SB(1), 2 R. BA= .500. The newcomer in RF provided a spark as he scored the Giants first run after a single and SB then scored the tying run in the 7'th on Heliot's double.
Patrick Bailey C- 1 for 3, 2B, RBI. BA= .194. Bailey quietly has a 5-game hit streak going and his batting .333 over his last 7 games. His 2-out double drove in Johnson with the Giants first run.
Kyle Harrison LHP- 4.1 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 4.34. Not the best start for Young Kyle and it looked like a certain loss against Nick Pivetta RHP
Sean Hjelle RHP- 2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 5/2 GO/AO. ERA= 0.00. Hjelle stops the bleeding in a long relief role.
Randy Rodriguez RHP- 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, Save(1). ERA= 0.66. Melvin finally summoned Rodriguez after Ryan Walker gave up singles to two of the first three batters he faced. I think Melvin knew he absolutely couldn't leave Walker out there to blow yet another Save. Maybe Doval wasn't available? Randy struck out Merrill and got Sheets on a pop up to record his first MLB Save. Do the Giants have a new Closer?
Robbie Ray LHP tries for a split of the 4-game series today against Dylan Cease RHP.
We had some comments that bringing in Dom Smith, Johnson and Knizner was out of the FZ churn playbook. Perhaps but I remind you once again that Brian Sabean was no slouch when it came to finding gems in the scrap heap. I am sure Buster well remembers 2010 when Sabes kept bringing in guys like Pat Burrell and Cody Ross who played huge roles in the stretch run. And yes, there were some like Jose Guillen who didn't work out. Those moves took what was supposed to be a transition year and turned it into the San Francisco version of the Giants first championship.
I am reading many mentions of “churn” and “scrap heap” but they needed an immediate upgrade. The upgrade was not available within the organization and trades were probably not available at any price that did not include Eldridge. Black Wednesday is probably one of the few feasible alternatives.
ReplyDeleteThis does not represent “churn” as in the past. That would have meant players like Matos and Vossler up and down to Sacramento a couple times by now and also would have seen a group of recent DFAs come and go. The new front office seems much more deliberate and feels churn moves can be disruptive. Most teams in MLB are doing the same things because June 1 triggered minor league opt outs (Jake Lamb). I am reserving comment on front office till later because they are new and they tend to focus on the big picture (harder to evaluate). I’m not entirely happy with what is going on but they are probably doing their best with what they have to work with.
ReplyDeleteI was extremely pleased with how this game proceeded. After falling behind 5-0, they slowly chipped away at the lead. Only one homerun. Great team effort. Keep it up.
ReplyDeleteJust when it's darkest....a team of total offensive ineptitude now down 5-0 after one of their pitchers finally throws a sub standard game (to be expected) and it looks like this is it, and not just the game.....but..somehow..they dig deep and pull out an improbable win and in the process finally bailing out their pitcher....Pretty amazing and hopefully used as a springboard..It better be becasue the game will mean nothing if not as wells as aa bunch of non MLB players...But, you never know.......ALl i inow is RAY will have to be nails once again today!
ReplyDeleteSteveVA
Johnson did what YtY has done in the past but has not done lately.
ReplyDeleteJohnson also made an incredible catch in deep right-center that truly saved the game for SF. YtY might have been able to do that, but it ranks high among most outstanding plays this year.
Johnson’s superb catch was s game-changer. Here’s to this local kid becoming the next Yaz.
DeleteBoMel finally learned to let Randy close and he was able to put out the fire. I think the roster moves likely puts Yaz on notice.
ReplyDeleteWalker may also be getting a bus ticket to Sacramento.
ReplyDeletecan't say I agree that the Front Office couldn't have done a better job in the off -season...they chose to go with who they knew and holdovers in a few too many instances IMWO...They also chose to spend money on a 48 year old pitcher that was likely to be hurt or ineffective....Oh well, bridge under water..As far as the Bargain basement replacement players, hope they work out, we hall see..
ReplyDeleteLet Walker pitch in low leverage situations and try to work him back just like Melvin did with Doval (his last outing notwithstanding)..
SteveVA
StevevA
Mike Fontenot!
ReplyDeleteA good way to get perspective on how the off-season went is to do an evaluation midway and and the end of a season. Not too much was happening on the trade front because most teams are trying to hold onto their prospects, especially the Giants with Eldridge and the pitching prospects. That would leave the free agents.
ReplyDeleteFans would like their teams to sign free agents and it is largely because the players have a history. However, most players that hit free agency do so at age 29 or 30 so the team would be paying the big money for the downsides of their careers. In the 2024-2025 class, there were some good signings like Alonso, Freid, Teoscar, Pivetta, and Kelly. There were also a lot of bad signings, mainly due to injury or ineffectiveness such as Santander, Snell, Burnes, Profar, possibly Adames, Conforto, and yes, Quantrill. I'm not sure if tapping even further into the FA market would have helped because the Giants were not linked to the good signings but they were more associated with the ones in the bad category. I would guess that the "success" rate for free agents currently runs at about 30-40% depending how teams define success. The Giants' front office probably could have done better but if they made more signings, but it is they could have done far worse and the effects would have been felt for years.
Buster and Melvin are both ex-catchers and they may have seen things in the current crop of FA pitchers like Burnes or Buehler that they did not like. They did not like it when Snell pulled himself out of the Arizona game and did not want to pitch in his last scheduled start. Also, they did not want to give up picks or bonus money (so no Pivetta). The Giants do have the resources to spend more but they don’t have the resources to pivot if the spending goes bad. I think DrB said that spending enough to stay just below the luxury tax should be enough and that is where they are now.
ReplyDeleteWe may not like the Adames signing but imagine if the Correa signing went through. More money spent for longer.